


Condensation

by ricochet



Category: Prince of Tennis
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-02-27
Updated: 2005-02-27
Packaged: 2017-10-05 20:55:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45950
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ricochet/pseuds/ricochet
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fuji and Taka are friends.  Fuji is grateful and Taka is not sorry.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Condensation

It had rained heavily for a week after the match against Fudomine, but today it was finally clear, and Syuusuke made his way to Kawamura Sushi under a bright sky. Kawamura-san greeted him cheerfully and waved him up the stairs with the assurance that Takashi was expecting him. Hoping to surprise his friend anyway, Syuusuke skipped the creaky step on his way up the stairs.

It must have worked, because when he entered the kitchen, Takashi was facing mostly away from the door, a bottle of pills in his left hand and a bewildered expression on his face. His right wrist was carefully splinted, and the bandages went all the way up the middle of his palm, making his fingers awkward as he tried to open the cap. There was a glass of water on the counter by his elbow that had apparently been sitting there long enough to gather beads of condensation on its sides.

Takashi's bemused expression softened the edges of Syuusuke's own smile. "Taka-san?" he asked. Syuusuke waited for Takashi to turn and face him before he continued, "May I give you a hand with that?"

Takashi smiled back at him, his splinted right hand moving upwards to rub at the back of his head. Faint embarrassment was obvious on his face. "Hi, Fuji. Sorry, I didn't think you were here yet. If you don't mind, then thanks."

Syuusuke stepped over to his friend and took the bottle from his hand. "Wada Calcium? Because of your wrist?"

The cap came off easily in his hand, and he shook two of the caplets into his palm without looking up before replacing it. The pills were chalky and white in his hand, each about the size of his baby fingernail. They wouldn't be difficult to swallow, and Syuusuke wasn't the one who was going to have to take them, so the lump he was having to breathe around really had no place in his throat. "How are you feeling, Taka-san?" he asked as he looked up and offered the pills to his friend.

"Oh, I'm all right," Takashi said. The tips of Takashi's fingers tickled lightly against Syuusuke's palm as he took the pills from Syuusuke's hand. He put both of them in his mouth at once and swallowed them down with a sip of water. "I'll be ready to play by the next match, I'm sure."

Syuusuke picked up the water glass as Takashi turned to put the little brown bottle full of pills away. He dragged a finger through the ring of condensation on the counter and had a familiar pattern of nine lines before he could think about it. "Tezuka will sit you." He heard Takashi turn quickly and looked up to meet his friend's eyes. They were anxious and maybe tired, but not really surprised.

"Do you think so?" Takashi asked him, his left hand moving to cradle his wrist while his eyes stayed steady on Syuusuke. "I know I'll be ready to play. Even my doctor thinks so."

"I'm sure of it," Syuusuke said. "He'll want to give you the extra time to rest, and St. Rudolph doesn't have a power player we need to match you up against. You'll be the alternate for the next match."

"Yeah, you're probably right." As he spoke, Takashi's eyes slipped away and refastened on the water glass. "Did you want something to drink? I forgot to ask when you came in."

"No, thank you, this is fine," Syuusuke smiled.

He let his own gaze focus on the glass in his hand. The condensation had run down the surface to gather around his thumb and middle finger. The overhead lights caught faintly on the print of Takashi's mouth at the rim. "Ne, Taka-san?"

"Yes?"

He turned the glass in his hand and carefully placed his lips exactly on top of where Takashi's had been as he took a long sip.

"I came to say thank you for what you did against Fudomine." Syuusuke looked at the glass again, at the print of his lips over Takashi's in a perfect indirect kiss. He rubbed his thumb over the print until it smeared into something indecipherable.

Takashi ran his hand over the back of his hair again, his eyes down and a faint, pink tinge to his face. It could have been a trick of the light. "It was nothing, Fuji. You don't need to thank me for that. We're teammates, right?"

"Of course we are. And we're friends, too, so can I ask you for a promise, Taka-san?" Syuusuke smiled when Takashi looked up, "Don't get hurt for me again. Not like that."

Takashi's hand dropped to his side, and his smile relaxed. "Okay, Fuji. I promise," he said. He held Syuusuke's eyes the whole time.


End file.
